Monday (4/1) – Stocks fell in light volume, pulling back after the S&P 500’s record closing high last week and weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data. (S&P 500 -0.5%)

Tuesday (4/2) – Stocks ended higher, though off their session highs, rebounding from the previous session and tracking a rise in European equities. (S&P 500 +0.5%)

Wednesday (4/3) – Stocks fell, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest daily decline in more than a month, after a weaker-than-expected survey of hiring by private employers raised concerns about the strength of the economy. (S&P 500 -1.1%)

Friday (4/5) – Stocks ended their worst week this year with losses after a weaker-than-expected jobs report undermined confidence in the economy and first-quarter earnings growth. (S&P 500 -0.4%)

For the previous week, the DJIA shed 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell 1.0% and the NASDAQ dropped 2.0%.

To begin the current week, the S&P 500 is up approx. 8.9% in the year-to-date period.

The S&P 500 experienced a 1% pullback ending the previous week at 1,553 and extending its recent reversal trend, finishing up one day and down the next for a 12th straight trading session (an all-time record).

To begin the current week, traders will continue to anticipate the Index to meet some resistance around the 1,570 mark and its all-time intraday high of 1,576. After witnessing a minor correction last week, traders will be looking to see if the current support band holds around 1,540. Below these levels, the next notable support marks for the S&P 500 fall in the 1,525 – 1,530 range.

However, if the market manages to push through its all-time intra-day high, expect another extension of the market’s upward bullish momentum in the near-term.

Key Technical Levels (S&P 500):

On the upside (resistance) – 1,570 (all-time closing high), 1,576 (all-time intra-day high) are the next major level in range on the charts.

On the downside (support) – 1,550, 1,540, 1,525-1,530, 1,500, are the next major marks in range on the charts.

The pace of corporate earnings begins to pick back up, as earnings season unofficially starts with Alcoa’s release after the market close on Monday. As of 4/5/13, of the 22 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for Q1 2013: 73% have reported earnings above analyst expectations, 0% reported earnings in line with analyst expectations and 27% reported earnings below analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters.See below for full list of corporate earnings reports.

Crude Oil:

To begin the week, NYMEX WTI Crude Oil is trading around the $93.00 a barrel level & Brent Crude is trading near $105.00 a barrel. In the 2013 YTD period, NYMEX WTI Crude Oil is up nearly 1% while Brent Crude is down over 3%.

Forex markets – the impact of the strong dollar on the first quarter earnings season.

In terms of sectors, Real Estate continues to be the strongest sector in seeing net sales, while equity flows within the Tech sector continued to be the weakest.

The latest Lipper data showed that Dimensional, MFS, and JP Morgan Funds kicked off the month of April as the largest contributors into equities. Conversely, State Street Global Advisors and BlackRock Fund Advisors each extracted over $500MN from their equity portfolio to kick-off the month.

Recent Asset Manager Trends:

Both Equity and Fixed Income flows remain solid, albeit that inflows into fixed income this week were less than the previous week.

Mutual Fund returns start on a negative trend in April. Waddell & Reed, GAMCO and Janus were among the largest 1-week decliners.